


Ocean

by SherbetLemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Beaches, Driving, Fluff, Getting Together, Hugs, Idiots in Love, Keith (Voltron) is weak, Lance (Voltron) is a Dumbass, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Ocean, Texting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 10:37:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17119769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherbetLemon/pseuds/SherbetLemon
Summary: Wanna hang?Keith squinted at his phone, a blinding force in his dark bedroom. Hang? It was ten thirty on a Tuesday night?-What the fuck Lance?Oh, you busy?No. Since when was Keith ever busy? Lance was the only person in this dead town.-Yeah sleepingPfft Keith you’re such a wet wipeGet dressed.Or: Lance turns up at Keith's door with a car and a plan. Keith can never say no to the ocean.





	Ocean

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Ocean (Океан)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17287292) by [darkche](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkche/pseuds/darkche)



_Wanna hang?_

Keith squinted at his phone, a blinding force in his dark bedroom. Hang? It was ten thirty on a Tuesday night?

_-What the fuck Lance?_

_Oh, you busy?_

No. Since when was Keith ever busy? Lance was the only person in this dead town.

_-Yeah sleeping_

_Pfft Keith you’re such a wet wipe_

_Get dressed._

Keith rolled his eyes. He should not be opening his sheets right now. He certainly shouldn’t be stumbling over abandoned clothing to slap a hand across the light switch. And he definitely should not be shoving his feet into boots and stuffing keys into his pockets. But here he was, fully dressed and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

His phone blinked to life.

_Outside x_

Keith let out a huff. Lance must have already been halfway to his car when he started texting. Keith really had to learn to stop indulging him.

 

The sound of water tumbling and crashing filled his ears as quickly as the wind whipped against his body. Keith pulled his jacket tighter as he climbed out the car, teeth chattering like a skeleton on Halloween. This was a bad idea.

As Keith let the passenger door slam shut, Lance’s footsteps clattered against the pebbles. The boy planted himself behind the thick sea wall, head lifted high in the wind. Keith shoved his hands into his pockets and followed, despite his best interests.

Salt splashed up the wall and droplets of ice splattered across Keith’s cheeks. The wind rushed along with it, diving through his hair to drag along his scalp. He shut his eyes, breathing in the salty air marred with the scent of seaweed. It was fresh. Familiar. When he reopened them, he felt a part of the landscape.

The moon was round in the sky, surrounded by tissue paper clouds that hid the stars whenever he looked too closely. The sea glittered below them, waves swooping under a net of diamonds. At the base of the wall, it swelled, foam twisting in kaleidoscopic patterns.

Lance let out a hum, and Keith found himself staring before he could stop himself. Lance had taken on a distant look, expression soft as he watched the waves stretch below the horizon.

‘Beautiful right?’

‘Y-yeah.’ Keith forced out, tearing his gaze back out to the coast. The air sparked with the metallic clanking of sails slapping against masts somewhere in the distance.

‘Couldn’t stop thinking about what I was missing.’ Lance continued, catching Keith’s attention once more. He shifted to lay his head against the stone, looking up at Keith.

Hair curled up around Lance’s forehead where the sea had licked it and his tanned cheeks were bitten pink by the cold. He had pulled his hood up to fight it, but the wind still swung close, tugging at the ends and trying to free them from the trap. Keith wanted to help. It would be so easy to knock that hood away. Let the tangled mess run free and capture the moonlight in golden brown. A wild kind of beauty. Keith swallowed thickly. Instead, he forced his hands against the lining of his coat.

‘You like it too, don’t you?’ Lance asked, voice floating on the wind.

Keith gave a grunt of approval. “Like” was an understatement. There was something different about the ocean air. It was alive. And at night, it absorbed the world. No people. No traffic. No stress. Just a buzzing kind of freedom. Keith craved it.

Lance had introduced it to him one night, back when they were at school and dying over exam season. Eyes red-rimmed, Keith’s brain was so stuffed with pointless knowledge that he was unable to process even minor thoughts. That’s when Lance appeared at his door. Grease was slathered through his hair and stains covered his sweatpants. He didn’t say a word, just gestured his head towards the car and Keith stumbled after. 

Now it was a kind of tradition. Whenever they were back in town, Lance would somehow find an excuse to take him here. Rain or shine, night or day. The place was there’s for the taking.

A gust of wind raced down Keith’s neck and he felt its freezing tendrils swipe all the way down to the bottom of his spine. He hissed through his teeth, tugging his collar up all the way to his cheekbones. ‘Cold though.’

Lance laughed, smile wide and eyes sparkling in curves.

‘Let’s get back in the car.’

Keith nodded, muscles trembling as he hopped across the car park.

 

Lance switched the power on, turning the fans up to full and Keith melted as heat blew across his face. Lance chuckled, fiddling with the radio until he found a station he liked. Quiet electronic beats tumbled through the air, purring across the clouded windows and Keith sighed. Rolling his head to face Lance, he found him watching.

‘What are you looking at?’

‘You.’

Keith’s stomach fizzled. Such a simple word. Yet it carried enormous power. Keith shifted a touch towards it. Lance had a nervous aura radiating from him and he fiddled awkwardly with his sleeves. His lips wriggled together uncomfortably, and his eyes followed an invisible fly bashing into the windscreen. Keith was washed with a sudden feeling of want. Those eyes. He needed them. Looking into his own and never leaving. In the gentlest movement he reached out to tug at the side of his jacket. Lance glanced to him and suddenly Keith was locked into place.

Were Lance’s eyes always so deep? They seemed to swallow him up, spiralling like whirlpools in every shade of the ocean. Keith unconsciously leant forward, as if reeled by an invisible thread. He’d be lying if he said the sensation was new. That thread was nearly always there, delicately floating in the wind. But this time, the air was charged, holding the string taut like a fish caught on bait. And Keith just couldn’t find it in himself to resist.

‘I want to do something.’ He said. His voice was a touch deeper than expected and rough, like he’d swallowed a gallon of seawater that sandpapered his throat. ‘I don’t know if you’ll like it.’

Lance’s tongue slipped out between his lips, and Keith’s mouth went dry as he watched its movement, leaving Lance’s skin pink and glistening. Inviting.

‘I have a feeling I might.’

The static in the air pulled them closer. Keith’s eyes fell across the freckles smattering Lance’s cheeks, lingering on the few that usually evaded his gaze. They were the result of too many days out in the sun, Keith thought but not without affection. Lance was always radiant at the beach. Galloping across the sand and lolloping in the shallows. Spray would fly over them in sparkles, landing in their mouths when they laughed a little too passionately. Completely unrestricted. The feeling burned into Keith’s mind, forcing him into motion.

Keith’s hand landed on Lance’s thigh, and he finally followed the stars into Lance’s eyes. His thumb drew gentle circles as he indulged in the feeling of holding the round muscle. It grounded him as Lance’s eyes attempted to swallow him whole, pupils blown like shining caves in the vast ocean. Keith sighed before he could stop it, letting himself melt into the sight in front of him. Lance. He’d wanted him for so long. When the sea pulled them into their own private world. When Lance’s eyes crinkled in laughter. When his troubles seemed to drift away. It was never the ocean that made him feel alive. It was Lance.

He squeezed tight, taking a final moment to steal Lance’s strength one more time before his eyes were fluttering shut. He leant forward, a ghost of breath across his lips. His heart thudded in his chest, the radio a distant memory beyond the erratic beat in his ears. This was it. Just a final push.

And then his face was shoved over a shoulder as Lance squeezed him to within an inch of his life. Keith blinked, face to face with the dark window, streaked with silvery mist from the warmth inside the car. What was happening right now?

‘Well this was nice!’ Lance burst into his ear, pitch high and words leaving no room for breath. Kind of like the hug, Keith thought, as his ribs begged for release. Lance smacked him on the back and Keith choked with the surprise. But Lance wasn’t done with him yet. He shoved him back before falling into own his seat and ripping his seat belt from the wall. It resisted and instead of acting with patience Lance just kept tugging, pulling it jerkily around until it finally clicked into its socket.

Keith was out of words. Had he misread the situation entirely? Lance was turning the ignition, staring firmly out the window. His face was flushed and this time it wasn’t the cold. Then the tomato was suddenly on him. ‘Come on. Seatbelt.’

He slapped desperately at Keith’s leg. ‘Safety first. What would my mamá say?’

Probably something along the lines of, “what the hell did you to my son?” Keith thought, watching cautiously as Lance’s very wide eyes never blinked and the boy let out a tuneless laugh. Keith took a shaky breath, pulling his seatbelt around his waist. What the hell _had_   he done? Keith had never seen Lance like this. It was unnerving. One second, he was soft, melting into his gaze like a swirl of ice-cream in a cone, the next it was harsh sounds and sharp edges – crushed ice spilt on the floor. Keith shrunk into his jacket, staring out at the streetlights streaming past. Had he messed up?

 

Back in bed, Keith curled over his stomach, pulling his blankets tight as he stared at the door. It was the oceans fault. It was too tempting, whipping up trouble in its mischievous waves. Keith couldn’t help getting whisked away in its romance. Lance had always said he thought the ocean was magical. Okay, that was in reference to the existence of mermaids which he’d swore he’d seen during a storm a few years ago. But still, magic, creatures, romance – it was all linked. He’d totally buy that Keith was just caught up in the moment. They’re friendship was at least safe.

Keith’s phone pinged, and he let out a groan, burying deeper into the cloud world of his pillows. Whoever it was could wait until morning. Keith was obviously sleeping. As if to mock him, a second ding rang through the room, just as cutting as the first. Keith refused to move, glaring into the dark. It was late. It was cold. It was not worth it. And as the quiet drew on, Keith quickly decided it was unbearable.

Throwing his hand out, he smacked blindly across his bedside table - a slave to the modern age. Landing on the metal, he dragged the phone along the wood, releasing a hollow scraping noise before it slid cleanly under the warmth of his covers. Opening his messages, he found the screen fogged by his breath and had to wipe it with his sleeve before reading. Then he sat bolt upright. Those words. They couldn’t be right.

_Hunk help!_

_Keith tried to kiss me and I chickened out!!  
_

Keith blinked. Skimming the messages again, he checked the user id, heart beating hard against his ribs. Lance. It was definitely Lance. Another message pinged through and Keith jumped nearly throwing his phone across the room. Scrambling for purchase, he opened the message with shaking hands and nearly lost the ability to breathe.

_I’m never gonna get a second chance_

Keith couldn’t help it. A short, breathless laugh left his lips. God, why did he love this dumbass so much? Shaking his head, he typed out a reply.

 _-I have a feeling you might_  


**Author's Note:**

> Lance is gonna have a shock in the morning when he sees who he's been texting ( ͡ ° ͜ʖ ͡ ° )
> 
> Thanks for reading!! ♥️
> 
> [My tumblr](http://smolstrawberrychara.tumblr.com/)


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